Whirligig Prereading Activites

English Honours 9 - The Whirligig Pre-reading Activities For this novel study, you will be studying Paul Fleischman’s The Whirligig. From reading the back cover, three themes emerge: 1. The issue of identity and self-esteem. 2. What is a life worth? The issue of restorative justice and redemption. 3. The Heroic Journey – both literally and figuratively. To prepare for the first assignment, work with a partner to answer the following questions. Keep notes and be prepared to share your answers with the class: Theme One: Identity and self-esteem 1. What are the effects of drug and alcohol abuse on an individual, family and society? 2. Why do young people try drugs and alcohol and some move on to become substance abusers? 3. What issues do young people face in their lives today that might dangerously lead to ‘self-medicate’ with substances. (i.e. stress etc….) Theme Two: Redemption and Restorative Justice "I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him." -- Booker T. Washington “An eye for an eye makes everyone blind” “Forgiveness sets you free” “We cannot solve our problems With the same thinking use to Create them.” -- Albert Einstein Forgiveness allows you to move on with your life. It does not bring back those from the dead. However, it does allow you to say, "I am not going to let this destroy me. I will survive and make the best of it." I found that the death penalty does not solve anything. I know this for a fact because I witnessed the execution of one of the two monsters that killed my sister. When it was over, I still found that my sister was dead. I did not feel what I had hoped to feel--they call it "closure." Most victims of violent crime don’t feel closure when their perpetrators are punished. They need to look inward for peace and healing and not outward with hate and violence. Many feel that the best way to accomplish this is through forgiveness ..... Consider the definitions of the following if you write on forgiveness and when we are discussing the novel. 1. justice: the administering of deserved punishment or reward/ the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause 2. retribution: —Synonyms 1, 2. retaliation, repayment, recompense. See REVENGE. —Antonyms 1, 2. pardon 3. redemption: deliverance; rescue/ atonement for guilt 4. forgiveness: act of forgiving; state of being forgiven 5. revenge: to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong on behalf of, esp. in a resentful or vindictive spirit: He revenged his murdered brother. Watch “Walking After Midnight.” Ask yourself, how would you feel if someone close to you was taken away? Would you be able to forgive? Would your anger and desire for revenge make you feel better? Do you agree with the statement from above that forgiveness allows a person to move on with his or her life? Do you practice forgiveness in your own life with your friends and family? Or do you nurture your resentment of others? Does it make you feel better to get ‘revenge’ or ‘even’ with someone that you feel has hurt you in some way? Go to this link and spend some time looking at the various quotes (they do express different thoughts on forgiveness), choose one that mirrors your thoughts on forgiveness and your thoughts on the prompts above and save it to your English folder. Takes some notes on your thoughts about the issue and the quote. Theme three: The Heroic Journey in Literature motif - reoccurring themes and symbols in literature  a coming of age story  concentrates on the growth of the protagonist from boy to man or girl to woman  There is often a loss or a disconnect with society or something that jars the person to go  on the journey The journey is often long and full of obstacles - each obstacles strips away a layer of the  old self on the road to the new self The hero returns to society with the elixir (see Joseph Campbell videos)  With a partner, think of as many examples as you can of the Heroic Journey from movies, cartoons, stories, history etc and record them here: ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________